NEWS: Barclays to hand project to Banks

Barclays has bypassed its roster agencies to appoint Banks Hoggins

O’Shea to a major project in its savings and investment division.

The assignment, which is thought to cover the launch of a revolutionary

product, could be backed by a substantial budget, and is likely to

involve consumer advertising towards the end of next year and into 1998.

The campaign is being handled by Barclays Unicorn, the investment arm of

Barclays. Officials, including the marketing director, Jane Castial, are

understood to have approached several shops before making a decision.

These included Barclays’ roster agencies, J. Walter Thompson, which

handles Barclays Bank, and BMP DDB, which runs Barclaycard.

However, a final creative and strategic shoot-out was scheduled between

just two agencies - Banks Hoggins O’Shea and WCRS - this summer.

John Banks, chairman of Banks Hoggins, said: ‘It’s wonderful to have

Barclays as a client, and it’s going to give us a terrific creative

opportunity.’ He declined to give any more details about the work

planned for the agency.

Castial also confirmed that Barclays was ‘in talks’ with Banks Hoggins,

‘with a view to working with it’, saying that adding an agency to

Barclays’ roster was in no way a reflection on the performance of its

other agencies.

‘These discussions relate only to the unit trust business, and are

distinct from, and in no way related to, Barclays’ personal sector

existing advertising arrangements,’ Barclays said in a statement.

For the moment, the financial institution is keeping tight-lipped on the

new product, but Barclays has hired a number of people to work on the

project.

The new product is not likely to be unveiled until next year.